The present invention relates to an exudation transfer process and a transfer sheet for use therein. More specifically, the invention is concerned with a transfer process which uses lower monohydric alcohols as a transfer agent, requires no use of heat and is applicable to the human body and with a new transfer sheet for use in the transfer process.
From ancient times, there has existed a strong desire among humans for decorating their skin or clothes, building materials for interior decoration, and other articles relating to daily life with ease and safety. For example, man has decorated his skin by tattooing, that is, injecting dyeing patterns directly into his skin by using a needle, by a hand-drawn picture comprising painting water-insoluble dyes, pigments, paints, colours and the like on the skin by means of a brush, or by decalcomania such as that used by a child. However, the former two methods cannot be easily practiced by an amateur, are expensive, are time-consuming and require a high level of technique. On the other hand, while the latter method can be simply practiced even by an infant, it results in a simultaneous transfer of a gelatin film layer onto the skin as in the conventional transfer processes hereinafter described and, thus, is very unnatural, and the resulting picture pattern is not fast.
On one hand, transfer methods for decorating such objects to be decorated as mentioned above which requires no special skill are known. These transfer processes can be broadly divided into water transfer, solvent transfer and heat transfer. Among them, the latter heat transfer can be further divided into heat sublimation transfer, thermoplastic transfer and heat melting transfer. These heat transfer processes all can reproduce the pattern to be transferred very naturally because they leave no film layer (gelatin etc.) other than coloring matter after transfer. However, they are inapplicable to human skin or other receiving materials having poor heat resistance because they use heat.
Then, a transfer paper using water or solvents is similar to the decalcomania. That is, as stated above, when the transfer paper is applied onto the skin, the film base such as a gelatin layer remains on the skin, and the transferred pattern exhibits an unnatural appearance, is seamed with the motion, expansion and contraction of the skin, thereby producing fine breaks in the film layer, and is accompanied by the risk of irritating and even inflaming the skin. In addition, when the transferred pattern is exposed to direct rays of the sun in summer, the polymerization or curing of the film by ultraviolet rays is promoted, and, as a result, the pattern may become difficult to remove.
The above described problems accompanying the prior art transfer processes are entailed also in the case of the objects other than human skin, such as fiber materials and wood materials to which the pictures are to be transferred. Further, as far as the heat transfer process is concerned, it has a disadvantage in that it does not provide a clear transfer pattern for materials other than polyester fibers.